Charity Talks

Bonnie Carroll, the President and Founder of the Tragedy and Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), joins Charity Talks.  Since 1994, TAPS has offered compassionate care to all those grieving a military loss.  As Bonnie and Brooke discuss, TAPS has a variety of programs that help so many affected families cope with the loss of a loved one, including a peer support network available 24 hours a da...

Ellen Agler, the CEO of the END Fund, and Mark Stoleson, the CEO of Legatum, are this episode’s guests. In 2006, Legatum realized that millions of people in Rwanda and Burundi were needlessly suffering from treatable neglected tropical diseases, such as intestinal worms, so it decided to fund programs to address this huge problem. After its work demonstrated the feasibility of scaling these progra...

Siegrid Holler, a partner and founding member at Instiglio, joins Charity Talks. Instiglio is based in Bogota, Columbia, and its mission is to ensure that every dollar spent on social programs in low and middle-income countries has the greatest possible impact. By focusing on three areas — systems strengthening and performance management, outcomes-based and innovative financing, and thought leader...

Parth Ahya, the cofounder of The Taimaka Project, is this episode’s guest. Taimaka works hand-in-hand with rural communities, primarily in Africa, to tackle hunger and malnutrition. The problem it is addressing is post-harvest food insecurity arising from farmers being forced to sell their crops right after the harvest, leaving them with no food or money as the year goes on. Taimaka helps these fa...

Brooke Haggerty, the Executive Director of Faunalytics, joins Charity Talks. Faunalytics’ mission is to empower animal advocates by providing them with access to research and strategies that maximize their effectiveness in reducing animal suffering.  It does so by conducting essential research, maintaining an online research library, and directly supporting advocates and organizations in their wor...

Joshua Ross, the co-founder of Humanitix, is this episode’s guest.  Humanitix is an online event ticketing business that Josh and his childhood friend founded when they realized that there was an opportunity to disrupt the ticketing business. But their real innovation was their decision to donate 100% of the company’s profits to effective charities, primarily those focused on child education in un...

Joshua Greene, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and co-founder of Giving Multiplier, joins Charity Talks.  During the podcast, Joshua and Brooke discuss the “heart” versus “head” dilemma surrounding charitable giving, and the behavioral research his team at Harvard has been doing that led to his founding of Giving Multiplier.  Giving Multiplier allows donors to pick two charities — th...

Svetha Janumpalli, the Founder and CEO of New Incentives, is this episode’s guest.  New Incentives is an innovative nonprofit that uses small cash payments to boost childhood vaccinations in North West, Nigeria, which has some of the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the world.  In partnership with local governments, it provides these cash transfers, typically around $11, to caregivers after t...

Timothy Higdon, the President and CEO of Hearing Health Foundation, joins Charity Talks.  HHF is the largest nonprofit funder of hearing and balance research in the United States, and for more than 60 years, HHF has awarded scientific research grants to foster the development of cochlear implant technology, more effective hearing aids and successful ear surgeries.  During the podcast, Timothy and...

Dr. Kate Schecter, the President and CEO of World Neighbors, is this episode’s guest.  During the podcast, Kate and Brooke discuss how World Neighbors focuses on training and educating communities around the world to find lasting solutions to the challenges they face, such as hunger, poverty and disease.  It does this by investing in local leadership, typically for eight to ten years, with the goa...

Cheryl Crazy Bull, the President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, joins Charity Talks.  The College Fund has been providing scholarships to Native American students for over 30 years.  In addition to scholarships, the College Fund provides critical funding to tribal colleges and universities, as well as support to students after graduation.  Cheryl and Brooke discuss how through its va...

Luke Freeman, the Executive Director of Giving What We Can, is this episode's guest.  Giving What We Can was founded by Oxford philosophers Toby Ord and William MacAskill to inspire donations to the world's most effective organizations.  It was one of the first groups focused on Effective Altruism, which is a movement and philosophy that advocates for using evidence and reason to determine how to...

Kelly Dolan, the CEO and President of Ronald McDonald House Charities, joins Charity Talks.  The mission of RMHC is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and their families.  It is best known for its Ronald McDonald House® programs around the world, which provide support and housing for parents when their child is being treated in a hospit...

Debbie Drell, the Director of Membership for the National Organization for Rare Disorders, is this episode’s guest.  NORD is the leading advocacy organization representing patients and families affected by rare diseases, and is committed to the identification, treatment and cure of 7,000 rare diseases. For almost 40 years, NORD has led the way in voicing the needs of the rare disease community, dr...

Whitney Flanagan, the Marketing and Communications Director of the Conservation Fund, joins Charity Talks.  The Conservation Fund protects America’s most critical lands and water to provide greater access to nature, strengthen local economies and enhance climate resiliency.  The Fund's programs focus on land and water conservation, wildlife preservation and community development, as well as cultur...

Marcus Daniell, the Founder and CEO of High Impact Athletes, is this episode’s guest.  Marcus is a professional tennis player and two-time Olympian representing New Zealand, and founded HIA after he engaged with the Effective Altruism philosophy and movement.  Effective Altruism asks “how can we best help others,” and answers that with, “by using evidence and reason to find the most effective caus...

Art delaCruz, the CEO of Team Rubicon, joins Charity Talks.  Team Rubicon is an international disaster response nonprofit that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly provide relief to communities in need.  Team Rubicon’s over 130,000 volunteers deploy across the United States and the world wherever disasters strike. And during the current pandemic,...

Kandi Pickard, the President and CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society, is this episode’s guest.  As the leading human rights organization for individuals with Down Syndrome, NDSS’s goal is a world in which all those who live with this syndrome have the opportunity to enhance their quality of life, realize their life aspirations and become valued members of welcoming communities.  NDSS accompl...

Dr. Temple Grandin, professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, is this episode’s guest. Dr. Grandin is a trailblazing advocate for the humane treatment of livestock, an inventor, a best-selling author, and a widely-sought speaker on autism.  In 2010, Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, named her in its “Heroes” category, and that year she was th...

Ronald Carter, the President and CEO of Children Incorporated, joins Charity Talks and discusses CI’s mission to help impoverished children in the United States and 22 countries around the world.  CI does this in two key ways: through child sponsorship and special funds.  Sponsorship ensures that children in poverty get the basic necessities, such as food, clothing and school supplies.  Special fu...

Dr. Wendy Harrison, the CEO of the SCI Foundation, is this episode’s guest.  SCI’s vision is a world free of preventable diseases.  One preventable disease that SCI is focusing on eradicating is caused by parasitic worm infections, which is not a problem those in developed countries hear about very often.  However, they affect over a billion people around the world, the largest group being school-...

Annie Duflo, the Executive Director of Innovations for Poverty Action, joins Charity Talks to discuss IPA’s mission to create high quality evidence for the best interventions to alleviate poverty. IPA has programs that improve education in developing countries and reduce human trafficking in Africa. It also has tested the effectiveness of direct payments to those living in poverty, to name just a...

Jaime Benedicto, the Director of Project Bantu Philippines, is this episode’s guest.  Project Bantu Philippines uses the music and movements of Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art that combines the elements of dance, acrobatics and music, to help children and young people from the poorest neighborhoods in Manila.  Project Bantu’s support and classes provide these children, who are often living on the...

Keith Harward, who spent 33 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, and Nigel Quiroz, an attorney and policy analyst at the Innocence Project, are this episode’s guests.  During the podcast, Keith discusses how he was wrongly convicted of a murder and sexual assault based on faulty forensic evidence, and what life has been like for him since he was exonerated.  Nigel discusses how the Innoce...

Caitlin Smith of the World Resources Institute joins Charity Talks. WRI is a global research organization spanning more than 60 countries that is dedicated to working with leaders in those counties to sustain the world’s natural resources.  From climate, energy and water, to our oceans and cities, WRI's over 1,000 experts and staff turn big ideas into action to protect our natural resources.  (0:2...